2026 baseball roster thread

We still in on Lujo from Dayton? Any other irons in the fire?

 

I was literally thinking the same thing… wasn’t sure if nadeau could move over there? He was pretty functional at the plate this last year. Assuming we’ll have stripling as a back up but I’d say he was only marginally better than Lawson this last season and that was only slightly better than picking one of us out of the stands to play third. Guessing ss will have to be one of the freshman, which isn’t a great prospect early but they’re both highly rated. I also wonder where cyr and Wilson fit in. I say cyr because I think yost beats him out for the third outfield spot. Anyway anyone else got a good idea on third, cause I’m speculating big time. Lol

 

I thought he committed to Georgia???

 

Apparently so. Have to see what Sully can come up with.

 

The infield defense is definitely my biggest concern going into next season (at least on paper it’s my biggest concern. I will always question if we have enough quality pitching but at the moment it looks promising with our returners and additions).

Kurland is pretty much a lock for 2B and I still think Lawson is the current favorite for shortstop. Until he blunders repeatedly in game (or in scrimmages this fall) the expectation should be for Lawson to play shortstop for the next couple years. I’m not ready to write him off as a SS after some lackluster starts at 3B as a freshman. I wouldn’t be surprised if playing so much 1B played a role in his defensive struggles at 3B and I was very impressed by his SS defense during the fall before he switched to 1B. Stripling is probably the starting third baseman right now though I’m curious if Nadeau could play there. To my knowledge he only played 2B with a tiny bit of 1B at JU. Is Wilson able to play 3B? He’s played a bit of 1B but I’m not sure if he’s played anywhere else in the infield. Kolt Myers is another candidate but I only saw him play middle infield last fall. I don’t remember much about his defense but the bat seemed promising. Not an inspiring group defensively considering all the inexperience at the infield positions. And if Lawson can’t handle SS then things get even worse.

Also a side note regarding the outfield. I’m not convinced Bastian is just going to come in and claim a starting spot. Nadeau batted .395/.482/.521 at JU but only batted .283/.421/.409 this past season for us. Not horrible but a noticeable drop off when facing better competition. Bastian is coming off a .302/.433/.552 season at JU. Someone may know more than me about his specific offensive tools but I’m not sure the bat will translate considering his numbers at a glance are worse than Nadeau’s at JU. If he does play everyday though then the outfield defense should be elite with him, Jones, and Yost. However that would most likely mean Cyr is having another subpar year offensively unless he’s the designated hitter. (Now that I think about it could Cyr play 3B? Idk I’ve rambled for too long so I’ll stop now).

 

O'Sullivan historically brings in shortstops and then moves all but 1 to 2b or 3b. We have Jordan Yost, Nic Partridge and Colton Schwartz (J.J. & Taylor's brother) all signed as SS. Could be one of them takes over at 3rd and the better of the 3 wins the SS job. Just guessing as well.

 

After Cyr’s showing at 2nd base late last season, personally I’d prefer to see him as far away from a batted baseball as we can place him…

 

Yes sir, I agree with you 100% Bowen will be our catcher and Lawson will have to play first base or another position. Definitely not third

 

Bowen is actually a really good catcher and absolutely what we need. A guy that puts bat on ball… Too many people worry about home runs… We need guys that are baseball, smart and put the bat on the ball doesn’t hurt to add in a very good defensive catcher like this guy. Great pick up!!!

 

Your concerns are warranted. Bastian has been overmatched in the Cape this summer (2-25 with 9 K’s) but a lot of guys struggle in that league. He can really run though and based on the fact he had good success against UF and FSU in mid-week games last year, I think he projects to have success next season. Regarding Nedeau, I thought he played pretty well last year and is a player who can play multiple positions. I also think Cyr will have a much better year in 2026. He’s having a good summer at the Cape and hopefully he can get back to what he showed his FR season at Miami when he hit over .300 with 17 HRs. Lastly, I think Lawson makes a nice jump offensively but not sure he can handle SS but we’ll see how that shakes out.